Hasan Arat interview: Besiktas' new basketball-player president axes foreign stars in attempt to rebuild Turkish giants
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, new Besiktas president Hasan Arat explains why the days of expensive foreign players dominating the team are over as he outlines his plans to promote Turkish talent and take the club back to the top
Comment and Analysis @ghostgoal
Saturday 6 January 2024 10:00, UK
Besiktas took the bold decision last month to axe five experienced players from their senior squad for ‘poor performance and incompatibility with the team.’ It is part of a dramatic rethink of the club’s priorities under new president Hasan Arat.
Cameroon internationals Vincent Aboubakar and Jean Onana, Cote d'Ivoire defender Eric Bailly, once of Manchester United, Algeria winger Rachid Ghezzal and French full-back Valentin Rosier were the foreign players removed from the squad.
«I think this will be the end of that strategy,» Arat tells Sky Sports. «We will not let ourselves be the place where players can end their careers. We will focus on young players who can make us a team of fighters again. That is the mentality of our spectators.»
Arat came to office following an extraordinary assembly and received 63 per cent of the vote. A former basketball player for Besiktas, his vision for the club might represent a departure from what has gone before but he has the backing of the fans.
«I did a SWOT analysis before the election,» he reveals. «That research showed me that people want to see grassroots players in the team.» In the 3-1 European defeat to Bodo Glimt in October, only three of the 16 to feature were Turkish. The youngest was 29.
«The main challenge is that we lost our grassroots players to other clubs. That was a big mistake. And then the transfers were panic buys. They did not plan well. That is the reason why
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